ENEA final report

This morning I went to the workshop on the ENEA final report for the Year 2007/08, that is Results and Perspectives.
The introduction to the Meeting was done by the President of ENEA, dr Paganetto. I think it was agreeable for the most part. The core was on the expected goal, by 2020, imposed by the EU, of the reduction of 20% of the greenhouse gases by each Nation, the relevant role which ENEA is expected to have in the achievement of this result and the role of investments and funds for this goal to be reached. Clearly, this implies that many things have to change. First of all, our lifestyle, by adopting simple measures to spare energy. Second of all, the replacement of oil with more clean sources of energy. What to me is astonishing is the major portion that fission nuclear energy should be given to. It is an astounding 7% ! Already being optimistic, we need between 10 to 15 yrs to have working nuclear power plants. These, as not stated, but written on the board, are third generation power plants. Technology for the 4th generation is already on its way. This means that as soon as we finish to build these power plants not only we are already beyond the EU deadline, but also they will be old. Needless to say, we have had problems with normal and toxic trash, I don't even want to think about the problem of nuclear waste. The ITER project, that is the fusion based nuclear power plant will be completed in 2016. Of course, whether it will be possible to implement it on a commercial scale is argument of discussion, but it clearly shows the direction to go. I think Paganetto had to pay a toll to the newly Berlusconi and Scaiola wrong bet. I just hope we don't waste our money.

Why can't there be any gay in US troops ?

Well, since there is quite a need to increase the number of troops, the US are loosing up a little the standards. The new policy is called "Don't ask, don't tell". This was done to include also gay people. Now, of course, some far right idiots questioned it and there has been quite a debate in the congress. Please listen to this and to what some had to say.



I just miss Jon Stewart. How to make a real comic show from real news !

A new era

I thought I would have never seen this, but it happened today. The EU officials declared publicly that Italy is violating the human rights. Statements can be briefly reassumed in the following : The recently passed bill on public safety contains some ground rules that make a charge worse if you are an immigrant; There is no protection shield against raids towards Roma people ; the approval of violence towards the gypsies camps are particularly worrisome.

Immigration is not a new issue. Why are we not able to deal with it ? There are settlements of people who have been here for over 40 yrs and the latter are in despicable conditions. Moreover, people who have been here for over 40 yrs can be considered Italian? Should they be allowed to access the same rights of Italians ? Are they subjected to the same duties ?
If so, the situation is clearly unacceptable. Why if somebody steals from you is worse if you are a foreigner ? would you accept it more gladly if an italian stole your wallet ?

Obama boys...

I beiieve Obama's visit to Europe is quite an event. Now I don't think there has been any recent US Presidential candidate coming to Europe before the elections. To me, this has, clearly, two positive consequences. First of all, on the european side, this means a change towards the US and its allies, at least on paper, and, for sure, puts him on the "good" side of the board, in a commonly quite hostile basin, as generally the US are perceived here. If on one hand, this visit tickles the European leaders' pride, on the other, I believe this is an electoral move. If there is one thing that is certain among Americans is the sense of insecurity they feel when they are abroad. This has been more accentuated thru the Bush administration.
Obama is loosing consensus in the US. Recent polls give Mccain much closer to the Democratic candidate. As everybody knows, Bush arrival was not really embraced in Europe. This is in stark contrast with how Obama has been welcomed. At home, I am pretty sure, this has some effect. Will it make any difference in November ? I doubt it, but I think it is a good move to give some momentum to a stagnant campaign.

La falsa intervista

Ieri ho sottoposto Jennifer all'interessantissimo incontro della Festa dell'Unita' tra Gianni Riotta e Uolter, detto Valter Veltroni.
D'accordo che eravamo alla festa del PD, d'accordo che non c'era contraddittorio, d'accordo tutto, ma me lo potevano dire che era un monologo. In circa un'ora e mezza di "intervista" Riotta ha fatto 5 domande. Lascio a voi il calcolo di minutaggio per risposta.
Roba che ad un certo punto ho visto Riotta sbracato sulla sedia a ronfare. Cio' che lascia sconcertati pero' non e' tanto quello, quanto piuttosto la quantita' di banalita' dette da Veltroni. Nulla, dico nulla e' stato detto di informativo. Mi e' sembrato chiaro pero' che Veltroni si sia reso (finalmente) conto dell'impossibilita' di un qualunque tipo di dialogo con Berlusconi. Preannuncia manifestazioni e azioni di protesta. Certo gli si poteva chiedere perche' dunque non abbia voluto partecipare alla manifestazione dell'8 luglio, ma Riotta tace. Gli si sarebbe potuto chiedere per esempio se non sia piu' sobrio discutere con Di Pietro, con tutte le sue pecche, piuttosto che con la Lega. Ma niente ! hai voglia a dire che la discussione con la Lega sia piuttosto nel merito del federalismo. Ma di che merito vuoi discutere con uno che manda affanculo la bandiera italiana e l'inno nazionale ? Putroppo Veltroni parla e discute nel merito con uno con cui non condivide nulla, piuttosto che con uno (Di Pietro) che fa molto piu' sobriamente una battaglia di cui Veltroni condivide motivi e ragioni in toto.... Misteri della fede !

ENEA

Working for the ITER project has a considerable positive side. For one, I don't have to be worried on whether the project is going to be funded. So in principle that means I'll be ok. There is a quite big amount of physics I am learning. Everything is accompanied by the fact that I can do things hands-on, since I am also doing experiments. The guy i am working with, who is my guide through this new route, is nice. So right now i am enjoying my stay here. It has been only a week, but positive. The bad side, which I am hoping, i'll get used to, is that i have to get up at 7 am, get out at 8:15 and deal with Rome traffic. Actually, despite living close to downtown, it takes not that much to get to the GRA. I think I am finding my way around that, but if i had a bazooka I would likely kill a few belonging to the human specie called "Romans on cars". The ride can be quite nice actually, through the countryside and especially now, since the weather is always fantastic. It's a little bit like going from Santa Fe' to Los Alamos, although the scene is completely different, but i am trying to keep the same laid back spirit.

GRA...

The GRA is the belt surronding Rome. With my new job at the ENEA, I have to reach Frascati. I think I am close to the record... 28 km, yesterday in 1h 30', whereas today i managed a 2h 36'.. The experience on the GRA is dramatic. Today there was an accident, yesterday... nothing, normal traffic. In any case, I had a really bad start. Yesterday i was supposed to be there at 8am.Well, when reading the contract, I never reached that part. Contracts are boring to read. So at the HR office were a little mad at me. I arrived just late.. only at 11:00, easy, dude, easy. I was expecting to get there around 10:00, still late, but early for my standards. Today, i was trying to get there earlier, but I was there at 11:36.. not bad!! I am going to try earlier tomorrow. I will leave home around 8:15am. This is dawn for me !!

The amazing thing about ENEA is that people get there around 9/9:30, but almost everybody leaves at around 5 pm. Generally all the adm. people get there around 8am and leave at 4pm. At that time, the drill goes off. Do you remember the drill sound you hear in the movies, calling everybody to the shelter ? That is exactly what that thing sounds like.

PD and DP

The new italian Democratic Party (PD), born from the ashes of Democratic Left (DS and ex Communist Party) and Margherita, wants to be a new progressive political project. It should be in principle a great gathering of ideas giving a common ground to the more moderate and more extreme leftist politics. As such, it resembles very much the American Democratic Party (DP) and indeed the DP is ideally its reference party. I believe there is more than that.

For instance, both parties have been very soft in facing the fears of the Nation. DP was not able to counter the political aberrations of the Republican Party the day after 9/11. In the same way, PdL was able to spur and talk to the worries of Italians causing a sense of instability and insecurity. The reaction from these, in both parties, has been a chase to the right, instead of a real and different answer to the problem.

More interestingly, it's the fact that both are progressive and leftist parties, as such, they should be closer to the people. Despite their history, they are perceived as elitist and most of all, far from the problems of real people. Indeed, nowday, the majority thinks, astonishingly, the conservative party, that is the party of the Industry and Capitalists, is able to provide answers, favoring the middle and lower classes(?!?!).

How is this possible ?

What did they say about him today ?

July 10th
The Guardian;
El Pais;

July 8th
The International Herald tribune;

and the jewel from July 7th
How to make a fool of yourself

P.za Navona, media and one street man reaction

Quite interestingly, the rally of two days ago was generally commented by italian newspapers mainly for the "insults" to the Pope and President Napolitano. So I and many from the PD who participated were asked whether we regret we were present that day. My personal answer is a definite "NO".
As it is clear from one of my posts, I criticized the speeches made by Grillo and Sabina Guzzanti, who are comedians, not politicians. As i said, I left the rally NOT because of what they were saying, but because I knew the effects those words would have had and how those words would have been reported on the media. So i deem their behavior to be idiotic.
Having said that, most of the speech made by Grillo was quite clean. You can find it here both the transcription (which unfortunately does not include his comments on the President) and the full video (of course, in italian). You can definitely say that it was off topic a few times or that it was populistic.
Let's break this down, though, to understand the media critics. He referred to the President by the nickname Morpheus, since Grillo thinks the President has been sleeping while some (unconstitutional) laws were passed. This nickname is a consequence of a fact. Is this really an insult ? Or maybe should one shut up and say nothing ? The other sentence referred to Napolitano calls for another fact. Namely, while there were riots on the streets of Naples due to the Trash problems of the region, the President (who is from Naples) was in Capri sunbathing or listening to music with Bassolino (PD and who has been in charge for solving the trash situation in Campania with the known results). Is this an insult ? or is it rather disgusting that Bassolino is doing nothing in Capri, instead of overseeing the situation together with the President, while there is a riot in the streets of the area ?
In a free Country, there is freedom of speech. Look at for instance the video I posted on Bush, or look at this other. There was no scandal after these in the US and actually any reaction is considered a sign of weakness.
Next, there is no mention of the Pope on his speech. What is outrageous here ? Who is the moralist ?
About Sabina Guzzanti. She never made me laugh. That is my problem. I judge her participation to the rally useless. Not only, she was out of line, a lot. Not because she can't say what she likes, she was out of line because that was a political demonstration and not satire, moreover, completely off topic. Indeed I (and many others) left.
That said, this was one of the speeches, NOT all. The demonstration lasted over 3 (or more) hrs, not 20 min, as her speech. The hypocrtical reaction of the Democratic party is briefly condensed in Fassino's words.
My reply to that, which you can find (in italian) within the comments is briefly reassumed in the following:
With those words, he is saying that the Democratic Party does not believe in a demonstration which poses at the center of the question the democratic process and system of the Country. Because this is what the core of the rally was, not what he states. He perfectly knows, that is his history, that opposing a government means actions at the Parliement, but also outside of it where one involves the people.
He should stop placing political interests before the interests of the Country. Because this is what is going on here. And many people from PD know it (see for instance D' Alema's interview at the Festa dell'Unita' in Rome). Moreover, one thing should be clear. The rally is not made by the people on stage, but by the 40/50000 people who were in the square. If there was one word said at the rally, that one was from 50000 people.

I was joking..

In all this quagmire, some news went overlooked. Berlusconi had one of his moments, which makes Italy proud of his Prime Minister. Robert Mugabe was recently confirmed in a quite controversial election. He has been Zimbabwe ruler for 28 yrs.
UN had decided sanctions against him, but Berlusconi argued against them. This caused a strong reaction on many international newspapers. The pantomime eventually ended with Berlusconi voting for sanctions since "Allies explained me the reasons why this was the right thing to do".

Moralists and Justicialists in P.za Navona

Last night, i went to the protest against the recent bills regarding Justice matters in Italy. Without going too much in depth, one (Lodo Alfano) of the bills states that President, Prime Minister, Senate President and House President cannot be charged for anything (they could even kill, in principle, without being prosecuted) during their mandate. In the second bill (Safety Decree), trials for "minor" charges (from stealing an apple to kidnapping and rape) are blocked. Thus, there is, in my opinion, the serious risk of undermining the italian democratic system.
I arrived around 18:15. P.za Navona was not completely full.

First talking is Paolo Flores, editor of Micromega. Honestly quite disappointing his speech full of rhetoric and nothing really new. The only interesting thing was a complete list of charges blocked by the amendment in the Safety decree.
The square gets fuller and fuller. I try going a little bit more in front and closer to the stage. At some point I just stop 'cause it's a freaking hot day and i don't need to sweat and become a sardine. After that Moni Ovada. Fiorella Mannoia takes the mike and says the only thing for which participating to this gathering: " Maybe nothing will happen, but it won't be my fault. I was here and did something". Do you understand Mr Veltroni ? Pancho Pardi then follows with a reasonable call to prevent Berlusconi from becoming President :" Who has tried slashing our Constitution cannot become its Warden, who has come out from trials only because he made laws for himself, cannot become president of CSM (Supreme Council of Magistrate), who boasts of despising the 25th of April (Italian freedom day ) cannot become the President of a Republic born from the Resistance Movement". Then the irony, Camilleri at 87 starts fighting with his uncivil poems.
The square is full now

Definitely we are not 100000, as some claim, we are probably closer to what the police says than to what stated by people from the stage, but i don't know exactly how many can fit in the square. Apparently, the police and the guys on stage use different counters. Definitely, I am not able to do a head-count, I guess i just don't have their talent (do they hire people for that?).
Finally Antonio Di Pietro. He does what expected, talks only about Justice and the implications of the bills. Nothing offensive in my opinion, nothing that can lead to denigrate the non participation of the Democratic Party, which has strongly been against this rally. One thing Di Pietro talked about raised my attention. Rumors has it, confirmed today by other sources as Repubblica and Corsera, that either there is some sort of exchange between the two sides of the Parliament. The opposition should vote for the Lodo Alfano (as Travaglio said:" The only Minister who has been able to make 5 unconstitutional-according to the EU-laws in one month) and then they will likely withdraw the "block-trials" Amendment from the Safety Bill or this agreement should be something that sounds like "we will not vote anything for the Country before we pass the Lodo, eventually we could also modify the Safety bill." Now these things have been said yesterday by Di Pietro and Travaglio (i seem to remember) and they are also on some newspapers. I am just hoping this is not true.
Then, Marco Travaglio, who played it smart, but he is too much of a prima donna. I am not so often in agreement with him, but his cinicaI views are interesting.
I left after Grillo (honestly I should have not listened to him at all) and the nonsensical Guzzanti. I was quite disgusted by these two, who have not considered the consequences of what they were saying, by attacking the Pope and President Napolitano. 

After all, except few things, nothing new, but i guess this was never the purpose. Still the atmosphere was good and most people were aware of the game. Not many applauded Grillo and Guzzanti, some loudly disapproved and this is a good sign. As stated by Fiorella Mannoia and as i said previously, the only relevant thing was to be present and express my "no" to provisions which i do not agree upon.

I want to add here one thing on this.
Those who participated at the rally were called moralists and justicialists. Well, this is quite a perverted way of using the terms. Yes, I want people who committed crimes to go to jail and I want politicians to be transparent or at least that they are not under prosecution while they are in my Parliament.  I don't want anybody who calls Mangano a hero to be neither my Prime Minister nor my President. I don't want people with a Crime record to be allowed and be part of the executive of my Government. If that is what you mean with those words and Democracy is not a priority for the Democratic Party, i will just be a happy and glad moralist and justicialist.

List of the major charged stopped by the Amendment known as "blocca-processi" (in Italian):
A
- aborto clandestino.
- abuso d’ufficio.
- adulterazione di sostanze alimentari.
- associazione per delinquere.
B
- bancarotta fraudolenta.
C
- calunnia.
- circonvenzione di incapace.
- corruzione.
- corruzione giudiziaria – è quella per cui Mr.B. ha fatto questo decreto.
D
- detenzione di documenti falsi per l’espatrio.
- detenzione di materiale pedo-pornografico.
E
- estorsione.
F
- falsificazione di documenti pubblici.
- frodi fiscali.
- furto con strappo.
- furto in appartamento.
I
- immigrazione clandestina (”pensate, dopo tutte le menate che fanno con la storia dell’immigrazione clandestina, adesso sospendono i processi” – Marco Travaglio).
- incendio e incendio boschivo.
- intercettazioni illecite.
M
- maltrattamenti in famiglia.
- molestie.
O
- omicidio colposo per colpa medica.
- omicidio colposo per norme sulla circolazione stradale vietata.
P
- peculato.
- porto e detenzione di armi anche clandestine.
R
- rapina.
- reati informatici.
- ricettazione.
- rivelazioni di segreti d’ufficio.
S
- sequestro di persona.
- sfruttamento della prostituzione.
- somministrazione di reati pericolosi.
- stupro e violenza sessuale.
T
- traffico di rifiuti. (sapevate che alcuni tipi di rifiuti che sono considerati tossici in Italia, a Napoli non lo sono ? (grazie Alfano))
- truffa alla Comunità Europea.
U
- usura.
V
- vendita di prodotti con marchi contraffatti.
- violenza privata.

About Fora and Holes.

Two days ago, I was at home watching the painful panorama of the italian TV shows. As many times happens to me, while working on my computer, I was letting the Tv go on without paying any attention. At some point, Forum starts ( just for comparison, it is very similar to what in the US is known as Judge $NAME$). While the decision of the judge is waited the hosts, 3/4 of them, plus questions from the audience in the studio start a debate. For some unknown reason (i wasn't paying too much attention, as you can imagine) today's was on whether daycare for kids was supposed to be given to foreigner's children as well. The idea was that was passed and it is, indeed, generally accepted, is that first daycare has to be given to italian families and then to foreigners'. Why ? One of the reasons is that also other states do it (!!). This statement was also put forward in this show. Now let's break it down, because i really don't understand the logic of this. Without falling into extremely important moral issues, there is a misconception here.
We are Italians because we were born here. Fine. The question is the following: Is this something that we choose ? I mean, we were given a list of Countries where to choose from at the beginning and then, they made the wrong one and we did the right one (and given the situation in Italy i don't see that either). So what is the privilege ? That we were lucky of being born here ? Is it our fault of being born in Africa or Romania or Italy ? The only discriminant I see is that you need to have a regular permit to stay here and pay taxes for these services. That's it ! If there are Countries (and these are not Countries where I have been-USA-FRANCE-CANADA for instance, since these are taken as examples, but not for this of course) were this principle is not considered is their fault not Italy's. This is a matter of being civilized and understanding everybody's rights! To me, it is just astonishing that such a principle can pass on TV without any filter!

Impressions under the rainbow

So, last night, we had one of Jen's friend over for dinner and she is lesbian. I am quite used to that, since Jen and I lived with a lesbian when we were in Boston, so it is not a big deal. She is south african ( by the way, not all southafricans are black.. actually she is really really white !) and she broke up with her italian girlfriend. The reason i say this is just that she is having problem to hook up with other girls. Apparently italian girls are quite tough to hook up with. It is interesting because also another friend (straight and foreigner) of mine told me the same thing. From my experience, for what that is worth, it is true. We are used in Italy to play a lot more, men and women alike. Generally, mind games have to be part of your repertoire whereas, in the US, for instance, things are much more clear. If girls are interested they are straightforward, if they are not, they'll cut you off. In any case, i felt strange, when she asked me how to behave with women ! It is strange to say to a woman how to behave with women....I mean she is also quite cute and feminine, not the "butcher" kind of lesbian and it is interesting the feeling of the fact that she cannot have any interest in you. In any case, after dinner we went to the Gay Village, which is some gay event going on right now in Rome. So I and Jen had to gay up our looks, otherwise we would have had problems to get in. So I wore a tight T-shirt and some tight jeans, put some more gel on my hair, so i thought i was ready (although according to this friend not enough, which i still have to understand whether it is a compliment or not..). Still I felt quite ridiculous, since the T-shirt was actually Tshirt underwear. In any case, I put on my best gay behavior and get to the entrance. I was in front and let the girls stay behind me. No problem. I get in easily. So either i looked gay enough or they just had pity of me and let me in. Once in, i was quite surprised, there were no extreme kind of people, i mean those that you usually see on the gay parade. It was actually quite mixed, there were hetero and gay couples and I liked the atmosphere. There was nothing like a gay pride thing, nothing dirty, nothing you would not find in any normal hetero disco, nothing overboard. Jen and I really had a good time. I am hoping there are just more things like this and maybe everything gets normalized, as it should be.

Clintonian affairs..

Between a BJ and a wank under the table, Berlusconi was supposed to find the time to explain to the Nation the recent bills regarding Justice and Tappings. The show was supposed to be, of course, held on one of his TVs with one of his journalist who, apparently, had spent all the previous day at Fedele Confalonieri's (MEDIASET tycoon, let's call him #2) house, to be instructed on how to behave with Berluskevil (given his height, there cannot be any Mini ME). In spite of the good job done by the doctors, it seems, but it has to be confirmed and I am pretty sure some zealous news agency will fill up the gap, he has declared to one of his trusted kiss-ups, there was no remedy for his, let's say, hard(ness) problems other than a surrogate of Viagra ! Now dear all, at risk of disappointing everybody, I have to tell you one thing here and i understand if this comes to you as totally unexpected but I DON'T GIVE A SHEER FUCK if Mrs Carfagna wants to give him a bj. I know, I know, some of you could reply that in these times of grief, it is better than nothing. Yeah, I understand that, but she is not giving it to me for God's sake ! I am freaking jelous (I mean she is probably the hottest chick who has ever walked the House of Parlament since Nilde Jotti..). It is just stupid for Di Pietro to be carried in a meaningless discussion on things which are irrelevant for the Country, but the fact that it makes the news in such a way, it means that Italians are just a bunch of monkey asses.

Breakfast in America

I just downloaded from iTunes this Album. It's probably Amarcord more than anything. I remember I bought it in England in 1983. I was thirteen ! It was my first LP ever bought. Probably, this was my first image of the US (although I am pretty sure these guys were English) and what i've always imaged in my mind US to be. I've always liked the way it sounds, since I first heard it at one of my cousin's house. I guess it's because it is very melodic, but still quite structured. Lyrics are quite ironical, but i guess at that time I had no idea of this. It is amazing the way it sounds despite there is no lead guitarist.

A stunning report from The Onion:

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By....


ahaha...

Impeachment for Silvio Berlusconi..

Mi fanno pisciare 'ste cose.. non si sa mai..

Ancora la Z di...

Zoro, dal suo blog su excite, vi propongo il seguente post : <<"Sull'Unità di oggi Roberto Cotroneo alza l'asticella. Nel suo pezzo intitolato "Il pericolo dell'autogol", spiega che le ragioni per manifestare ci sono tutte, ci mancherebbe e che però o si va sopra al milione di partecipanti o sarà flop.
Aggiunge Cotroneo: "Andare in piazza l'8 luglio va bene, è anche un modo per dare voce a una opposizione, quella antagonista e girotondina, che dal risultato delle ultime elezioni non ha più voce in parlamento".
Ecco, Cotroneo, famo a capisse.
Come puoi pretendere che sti poracci antagonisti e girotondini portino da soli un milione di persone in piazza visto che so pure spariti dal parlamento? E però, se pensi come scrivi "che le ragioni per manifestare ci sono già da ora e non si può rimanere con le mani in mano e guardare Berlusconi che con la forza di una maggioranza larga e piuttosto compatta dispone delle istituzioni, e del parlamento come gli pare", perché non muovi il culo pure tu?
Insomma, il rischio di autogol è sicuramente alto, ma non si capisce bene di quale porta tu stia parlando (scusami il tu, m'è venuto così, all'improvviso)." >>. Il discorso di Zoro mi trova d'accordo, su molti punti. Un'opposizione statica non paga, di sicuro non mi pare che la favella veltroniana abbia portata ad alcunche'. Ergo, domenica saro' alla Festa dell'Unita' a Roma, per il circolo PD Balduina, a cui sono iscritto...e vediamo di muoverci cazzo ! Veltroni muoviti pure tu, che e' l'ora !

Public Safety and Berlusconi.

In Italy, last elections were based on the general ground that public safety had been undermined by Prodi, our ex prime minister. As a consequence,Berlusconi's party, who has the largest control on public media ever allowed in any modern democracy, with the coward immobility and, i would dare to say, consensus, of the Left party, had triggered all his media in order to increase the perception of fear and unsafety in all our major cities. Of course, the Left party was to be held responsible because of its "connatural" and indiscriminate tolerance and acceptance of everybody, instead of a safer policy which would have allowed a more regulated flow of immigrants. Although, to some very little extent, I can justify the claims of the Right and I am not going to discuss why Prodi's cabinet dealt in this way with the problem, as an example of such change was brought Rome, which, by chance, had Veltroni as a Mayor (Veltroni was Berlusconi's opponent in the last elections). As a matter of fact, Rome is actually quite safe, don't forget it is Italy Capital and it is the largest city and thus, like any big city has problems. Traveling a lot, I can say that it is not comparable to NY, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, or in Europe, Madrid, Barcelona, London which are much more dangerous cities. I am very far from saying it is the safest, but everything has to be put in the right context. It is not reasonable to ask for Rome to be as safe as Gaiano. Propaganda against Rome('s mayor) was done in spite of the fact that Milan is, actually, the most dangerous city in Italy, according to the numbers, but little to nothing was said during the campaign because its Mayor is from PDL (Berlusconi's party). I should add that the Left Party was literally unable to provide a logical counter-campaign. Let's go back to the reason of this post. What is happening now ? As anybody in Italy knows, even those who are with Berlusconi, he has been suited for a number of crimes, for some of which, because of laws his previous governament has passed, he has not been condemned. In the last days, he is trying to avoid another one in different manners. First, through what is known as Lodo Schifani. Briefly, this would imply that the highest authorities in Italy cannot be charged during their public service. Now, as said in one of my previous posts, this is unprecedented in Italy. It puts on different levels authorities and normal people and moreover, in the way it is proposed, it seriously undermines the possibility of controlling their legal actions. This is at the basis of our democratic system. Second, with the excuse of speed up the Justice process, in the "public safety bill", he has added an amendment through which he is blocking "minor" trials. This implicitly blocks his, but also charges like extortion, rape,robbery, kidnapping just to name a few and most of those for which this bill has been made. Contrary to what he had claimed during the electoral campaign, from the economic side, his cabinet has cut the funds for the State and Defense Deparments, which will put a stop at increasing the salaries of the police forces (1200 euro per month), and seriously, more than even the Left had done, undermine the normal police operations (car, gas, overtime hours), plus a 6000 agents cut, for a total of 1.5 billion euro. Is this what Berlusconi means when he talks about Safety ? Or is he just talking about his own ?

what if..

your woman were like that ?

Mr Sulu

Man, I love the irony of Jon Stewart. He is a mad-man ! You should know that Jewish mothers are thought to be like mostly italian mothers..